Oklahoma education rated No. 27

Oklahoma is No. 27 in the nation in a ranking of the “best school systems” by WalletHub.com.

In the “school-system quality rank,” Oklahoma was No. 36 and in the “school system safety rank,” Oklahoma was No. 7.

Oklahoma was No. 3 in a ranking of the “safest schools” behind No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Massachusetts.

This is in contrast to several surveys by teachers’ unions and other liberal groups ranking Oklahoma as No. 49 in education, based primarily on teacher salaries.

Oklahoma’s dropout rate in 2014-15 was only 2 percent, according to the State Department of Education. The average composite ACT score in Oklahoma in 2015 was 20.7, with 75 percent of the graduates taking that college entrance test. The national average score is 21.

WalletHub’s analysts compared the quality of education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and examined 17 key metrics, ranging from “student-teacher ratio” to “average SAT and ACT scores” to “dropout rate.”

The top states were:

Massachusetts

New Jersey

Connecticut

Vermont

Wisconsin

New Hampshire

Virginia

Maine

Delaware

Minnesota

The bottom states were:

Alabama

Oregon

Nevade

West Virginia

Mississippi

District of Columbia

Arizona

Alaska

New Mexico

Louisiana

Here are survey results:

Iowa has the lowest dropout rate, 9.5 percent, which is 4.1 times lower than in the District of Columbia, where the rate is highest, 38.6 percent.

Vermont has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, 10.6, which is 2.3 times lower than in California, where the ratio is highest, 24.3.

The District of Columbia has the highest percentage of high school graduates who completed an Advanced Placement exam, 55.7 percent, which is 4.4 times higher than in Mississippi, where the percentage is lowest, 12.7 percent.

Wisconsin has the lowest percentage of public school students in grades 9 to 12 who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, 4.3 percent, which is 2.5 times lower than in Arkansas, where the percentage is highest, 10.9 percent.

The District of Columbia has the lowest percentage of high school students who were electronically bullied, 7.9 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Idaho, where the percentage is highest, 21.1 percent.

Illinois has the highest average SAT score, 600.7, which is 1.4 times higher than in the District of Columbia, where the average is lowest, 437.7.

Massachusetts has the highest math test scores while Washington, D.C., was at the bottom.

Massachusetts also has the highest reading test scores with Washington, D.C., with the lowest.

Connecticut is tied with Massachusetts with the highest average ACT score while Hawaii is at the bottom of the list.